China arrests 90 over child abductions: state mediaBeijing (AFP) Nov 22, 2012 -
Police have arrested 90 gang suspects across China and freed 28 children who were allegedly kidnapped from the far west and taken to various cities to steal, the China Daily said on Thursday.

"Suspected gang members 'beat, abused or threatened' these young children to force them to steal and rob in public places," it quoted the Ministry of Public Security spokesman Huang Shihai as saying.

The locations ranged from shopping centres to underpasses and railway stations, he said.

Authorities carried out the operation last month in Beijing and various provinces around the country as part of a campaign launched in April last year that has netted 2,700 suspects and rescued 2,300 children.

The gangs often targeted youths in the Xinjiang region where the Uighur ethnic minority speaks a different language, making their cases more difficult for police to investigate, criminal investigation expert Dai Peng was quoted as saying.

The traffickers also often targeted poor children who had dropped out of school, promising them a path to prosperity in cities elsewhere, a Uighur interpreter named Ablikim who helped with police investigations told the newspaper.

But once they arrived the children were forced to beg or pick pockets.

"It has become a profitable industry," Ablikim said. "Every child has to get back a certain amount of money or the boss may hit him or her."

Taiwan has decided to bar the Dalai Lama from entering the island, triggering an angry response from a women's organisation that had invited him to a meeting there next month, officials said Thursday.

The Taiwan chapter of the Federation of Business and Professional Women, headed by former vice president Annette Lu, said the move reflected fear of angering China, which sees the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist.

"We are angry as the government is obviously worried about China's reaction. It's ridiculous that Taiwan has to listen to China and seek its approval before doing anything," said a spokeswoman for Lu.

The federation said that they had contacted the Dalai Lama directly and that he had agreed to attend their Asia Pacific regional conference in Taipei in December.

Taiwan's foreign ministry confirmed that they would not allow the visit, but denied China had anything to do with the decision.

"It's just not a good time," foreign ministry spokesman Steve Hsia told AFP, declining to elaborate.

China is highly critical of the Dalai Lama, suspecting him of seeking independence for his Himalayan homeland, even though he says he only wants greater autonomy and religious freedom.

The Dalai Lama had voiced a wish to visit Taiwan in 2008, but at that time, too, the island's government had argued the time was not right.

He did visit Taiwan in 2009 to comfort victims of a deadly typhoon in a trip that was strongly criticised by China and reportedly triggered mass cancellations of mainland tourist groups to the island.

Dalai Lama visits to Taiwan are particularly galling for China, as it still regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, even though it has ruled itself since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Ties between Taiwan and China have improved markedly since Ma Ying-Jeou became Taiwan's president in 2008 on a Beijing-friendly platform.

Two detained in China for 'inciting unrest' onlineBeijing (AFP) Nov 21, 2012
Chinese police have detained two people accused of inciting unrest in online postings, state media and a rights group said Wednesday in a sign of official concern over potential social instability.
Police in south China's Guangdong province detained a car owner for posting messages online trying to organise a bumper sticker campaign against rising vehicle licencing fees, the Global Times rep ... read more

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